Luis Tosar Interview – Chatting with the star of Sleep Tight

If you want someone who can be as sympathetic as he is scary, Spanish actor Luis Tosar is a good choice. He’s been excellent in the likes of Cell 211 and Even The Rain, and he returns to UK cinemas this Friday (March 1st) in Sleep Tight – from the director of [REC] – in which he plays a lonely night porter who gets up to come rather creepy activities at night. You can read our review here.

We caught up with Luis a few months ago, to chat about the film.

What attracted you to the film? I loved the evil side of the character I play and the fact that he did not have any empathy and yet there was a great sense of humour about him. When I met up with the director we immediately clicked and I really felt that we were on the same wavelength for what we wanted the film to be, so I signed up straight away. We both believed that my character was perfect on the script and I didn’t want to change him in any way, I worked on small nuances when it felt right on set but on the whole, the script and the remarkably well-written character was why I signed up for Sleep Tight.

Cesar is a despicable character yet oddly endearing? How did you achieve this? Was this in the script or your doing? I had no reference for where to start in terms of Cesar, as I’d never experienced anyone like him before. He is such an unusual character because he just doesn’t want anyone to be happy, he feeds off misery and when he encounters someone who is profoundly positive, he goes out of his way to make sure that stops. So instead I pictured myself in that dark mindset, and how I’d feel, act and behave and what I’d do to people who I didn’t understand. There’s a playful side to him, and I was incredibly interested in his sadistic game; I was determined to make the viewer feel like a victim and surprise them when they realise that he was not who they thought he was.

There have been some really great thrillers from the Spanish film industry recently, why do you think this is? It could be because Filmax is based in Spain, they have their headquarters in Catalonia, and we have fantastic film factories now there as well, which I think together gives us the capabilities now to make internationally appealing films. We also have the Sitges film festival, which is also based in Catalonia, and I believe contributes hugely to creating a dedicated fan base of Spanish horror and fantasy film fans. The reception to Sleep Tight was great there.

Do you think that Sleep Tight will get a Hollywood remake? Funnily enough, at the same time that they were making this film, they were talks of another film coming out with Hilary Swank that had a similar theme but it turned out they were not the same. But no, I’ve not heard any talk of remakes or an indication that anyone is going to make it.

What’s next for you? My next film is called Operation E ad it’s a political drama based on the arms conflict in Columbia.